More than Him
by Noodle-licious
Summary: Feiciano loses his memory... and trades them for false ones. But are they really made-up? (Rated T)
1. New kind of party

"Feliciano, get over here!" Ludwig growled at his friend, Feliciano, who was looking over the roof.

Gilbert, Ludwig's older brother, overheard the command. "Hey, let the kid have his fun."

"Yah, c'mon Ludwig! Loosen up." Feliciano stood up and walked to his friend, and sat with him. Every one of Feliciano's friends (and some of his friend's friends) were standing on his roof, invited to a new kind of party he was trying out. Blankets were lying out; a small table of wine and crackers was specially fixed by him to balance on the roof. Speakers were placed around the roof, blasting music for dancing.

"You're gonna fall. If not you, then someone. This was a bad idea."

"Hey, you liked the idea before."

"Before. Then I saw what it looked like with about twenty people on your second-story roof."

"Twenty-eight, actually."

"Shut up, that's upsetting!" Ludwig playfully nudged Feliciano, causing him to almost fall over. Ludwig grabbed his arm to stop him from falling off the roof.

"And you're the one who was telling me to get away from the edge. You hypocrite!" Feliciano latched onto Ludwig's arm affectionately. "Besides, my roof isn't _too_ steep. I think it was like, what, thirty degrees?"

"That's still quite a slope. And it's still the second floor. Technically third, if there were walls."

"No one's hurt yet."

"Damn it, Feliciano! That doesn't mean that it won't happen. No one's even touched the wine yet, so you never know." Immediately after this was said, Feliciano stood up and walked over to the somewhat lopsided table, grabbed a bottle and corkscrew and opened it. He grabbed two plastic wine glasses and poured generous amounts of the drink for him and his friend. "That doesn't mean to go and get some."

"You don't want any?"

"I never said that. Though I do prefer beer" Ludwig took his drink and Feliciano sat back down with him.

"Hey, got anything to eat?" Alfred called over to the pair. "We're freakin' starving over here."

Feliciano heaved a heavy sigh and fell back. "Gah, I _just_ sat down!"

"I'll go make something."

"I've got spaghetti in the fridge. Can you just throw it in the oven for about ten minutes?"

"Ja, fine." The German ruffled his friend's hair and rose, descending the ladder and entering the house.

Inside was no more comforting than on the roof. Ludwig could hear the footsteps and conversations of his friends, along with the music, even though he was only on the first floor. He felt as though the roof could cave in at any moment. He fought every urge and instinct to get out of there.

After a few moments of rummaging through the fridge, he found the pasta dish. He looked at the oven, and then at the ceiling. Wanting to get out as soon as possible, the microwave sounded like a better plan.

He put it in, and set the timer for two minutes and thirty seconds. After about fifteen second of waiting, he decided to look around. As often as he came to Feliciano's house, he never really explored.

Opening the nearest cupboard, Ludwig found the wine glasses. Real glass, not plastic. Feliciano was cautious enough to get cheap plastic things for the party, so that if someone dropped a drink, it wouldn't break and hurt someone.

He pulled one out and inspected it. The cup was simple, smooth glass with a gold rim. The handle, however, was a thin wrapped pattern which spread out into the base, which was also gold rimmed. There were two others in the cupboard like this, though most sets that Feliciano owned included four glasses, not three. Ludwig remembered it, he had been here with Feliciano and Kiku (Who was also attending the party). He had spun around to speak with Kiku, only to hit the glass with his hand. There had been wine in the glass, and it left a stain on the wood floors.

Ludwig looked across the room. Yup, still there, under the table. A dark red tinge. Though he knows that Feliciano isn't angry, he teases Ludwig about it still.

"Ahh, Feli." Ludwig sighed and put up the glass.

The microwave beeped. He took out the pasta and rummaged around for a fork. After stirring the noodles around he put it back in the microwave for the second half of its heating time.

Another cupboard opened. It was mostly empty, besides two bottles. The rest had been taken out for the party. There was also a grocery list and a driver's license. He picked it up and looked at it. _I guess what they say is true;_ Ludwig thought, _no one looks as bad as they do in their drivers license_. Feliciano was actually rather striking in real life, at least to him.

The timer went off again. Ludwig held the spaghetti in one hand and some bowls in the other, until he realized that he wouldn't be able to get up the ladder if both hands were occupied.

Leaving the house, he looked up to check on the party. There seemed to be a bit more of a commotion.

Climbing up the ladder with spaghetti in hand, he saw Natalia beginning to raise her voice at Feliciano. There was also an empty wine bottle on the table.

"Shut up!" She howled.

"Hey, okay." He put his arm on her shoulders. It seemed to be in reassurance, but that assumption was soon thwarted as he leaned on her a bit.

_Really,_ Ludwig glared at him,_ I've been gone five minutes and you're already drunk off your ass. Good job._

"-He don't like you. _He_ likes you." Feliciano pointed with his near empty glass at Toris, who immediately jumped.

"W-What?" He brought his hands up to his chest, "Me?"

"Besides," Feliciano continued, "it's not exactly… 'Right' if you were to marry Ivan."

Ivan looked slightly afraid.

"Why not? What do you know?" Natalia put her hands on her hips.

"Well, first of- _*hic* _-first of all, he doesn't like you."

"Not true!"

"Second, he's your brother. It's just- _*hic* _-weird."

"So? Love is love, you jerk!" Natalia emphasized the anger she held in her last words by shoving Feliciano's shoulder.

Feliciano stumbled backwards and tripped off the side of the roof.

"Feliciano!" Antonio shot out from the group and caught him by the arm.

"You alright, _amigo?_" Antonio pulled him back on the roof and held Feliciano by his shoulders. He gave a stern look in the eye to the drunken Italian. Everyone went silent, and someone paused the music.

"Eh?" Feliciano cocked his head at his friend, a tired look in his gold eyes.

"Get a _grip!_" Antonio's palm landed on Feliciano's cheek with a loud _slap._ He immediately stood up straight.

"_Si!_" Feliciano broke away from Antonio, and brought a parallel hand to his forehead in attention.

"Good." Antonio released Feliciano, who immediately hurried over to Ludwig.

"You alright?" Ludwig hugged him tightly with his free arm, relieved that he was safe. The music was continued, as though nothing happened.

"Not if you keep squishing me." Feliciano choked out.

"Sorry," He let go of his friend, and put down the dish on the table. "You scared me."

"I've been drinking a little bit." Ludwig gave him a disapproving look, "Okay, I had more than a- Stop looking at me like that! Okay, I had a _lot._ I admit, I had a lot. Sorry, I just couldn't help it." Feliciano frowned and hung his head.

"What do you mean you 'couldn't help it?' Feli, how often do you drink?"

"Once in a while."

"How often is that?"

"I have a glass or two a day… Sometimes three…"

"Feliciano…" Ludwig growled at him, and then leaned closer, "Do you have a drinking problem?"

"I… No!" Feliciano hugged himself, and stepped backwards. "Why would I?"

"I don't know, you tell me."

"Well, I guess I just ran- Wait, I don't have to because I don't have one!" Feliciano's clenched fists shot down in anger, and his yelling outdid the music and nearby guests began to gawk.

"Feliciano, calm down. People are starting to stare," He added in to the onlookers, "Sorry, just a misunderstanding." They slowly began to continue their activities.

"Ludwig," Feliciano's voice quavered a bit, and dropped to a whisper, "I'm sorry. I just don't have a problem. Don't accuse me of those kinds of things, okay?"

"Okay…" Ludwig was still concerned.

"Ludwig, you forgot the bowls."

"I couldn't carry them up, not with the spaghetti."

"Oh, I can go get them." As Feliciano got onto the ladder, Natalia approached.

"You jackass." She kicked the top of the ladder, causing it and Feliciano to fall two stories to the ground. He landed with a sickening _thump._


	2. Trade

"Feli!" Ludwig cried down. There was no answer, he was motionless on the ground. The blood was already appearing under his head, flowing through the grass surrounding it.

Everyone began to panic, especially his brother, Lovino. "Feliciano! Feliciano, answer me!" When his plea went unanswered, he turned on Ludwig, red with rage. "You bastard! Look at what happened!"

"What did I do? It was her fault!" He pointed to Natalia, but Lovino had already crossed to the other side of the roof where there was the first story jutted out, jumped to the lower roof, and entered the house through a window. He was quick, when he wanted to be.

In only a few seconds, Lovino was out of the house and next to his brother, phone in hand and already calling an ambulance. He also had a towel which he put around his brother's head. The commotion on the roof was exploding, mostly yelling for the Vargas brothers on the ground. Ivan, Katyusha and Feliks were all shouting at Natalia, telling her how stupid a move that it was. At least, Feliks was, because Ivan and Katyusha were both speaking swiftly in Russian.

Antonio and Francis were the next to find their ways off the roof, now kneeling next to Feliciano. They were communicating quietly with each other, giving frequent glances to Lovino. He must have overheard them speaking about something he didn't like, because he turned the phone away from hid face and yelled at them.

"Shut up! Of course he'll be okay! He can't die!" He spoke confidently but began crying. Francis took the phone and continued Lovino's conversation with the operator.

Ludwig decided to go to them. Instead of going into the house from the lower roof, he just jumped. He landed safely, and sprinted to the small group on the ground. The first thing he noticed was that Feliciano _was_ still breathing.

Francis finished the call. "They're on their way."

"Is there anything I can do?" Ludwig felt the need to help.

"All you can do now is just get everyone down."

Ludwig stood up and picked up the fallen ladder. He placed it against the house, "Party's over. Natalia, you come down first." She did as she was told, and Ivan followed. After a nod of understanding, Ivan began to take control of guiding people down safely.

"Everyone go home." People were very averse to depart with the situation, but in time the last car pulled out of the driveway and the ambulance pulled in. All the while, Feliciano had been completely unresponsive, and remained that way while the emergency service recruits brought him into the vehicle. Being immediate family, Lovino was allowed to go with him.

"Stay here, I'll call you guys." He called before they departed, leaving Ludwig, Francis, and Antonio to clean up anxiously.

_ Ring, ring._

"Hello?" Ludwig immediately grabbed the phone. His two friends and himself had sat around inside, waiting for Lovino to call them.

"Ludwig?" Lovino's voice sounded from the other line.

"Ja. How is he?"

"Uhh…"

"Lovino, is he okay?"

"He's awake. The doctors say that he suffered a severe blow to the head."

"Well, that's-"

"And he has a case of amnesia." Lovino's voice cracked, "He- I went in to talk with him. He couldn't remember who I was." He was trying hard not to cry.

"What? I need to come over there, now."

"Okay. Good luck with that." Lovino's voice was barely a whisper as he hung up the phone.

"What happened?" Francis and Antonio said together, both worried.

"He-" Ludwig couldn't say it. He didn't want to be the one to break this to them, but he had to. "He's suffered head trauma and can't remember anything."

They both store at him in shock. "Amnesia?" Antonio finally spat out, "He has amnesia?"

"We need to go see him!" Francis pulled out his car keys.

The three piled into Francis's car, a small, light blue convertible. The ride to the hospital was the longest ride across town in Ludwig's life. What took about ten dreadful minutes seemed like an eternity. No one uttered a word, but the silent atmosphere said everything.

Once in the hospital check-in, the trio ran immediately to the front desk.

"Excuse me," Ludwig summoned the man looking over the post. "Hello?"

"Hello, may I help you?" The man turned to him, writing on some documents.

"Yes, we're here to see Feliciano Vargas," Francis put his hands on the desk, "He was brought in about two hours ago?" His statement seemed like more of a question.

"Hmm, Mister Vargas. Uh," The man turned to a computer and began to patter on the keyboard, "Oh! Yes, Feliciano M. Vargas. You're here to see him, you say?"

"_Oui,_ yes."

"Well, it seems that he is in the intensive care unit. May I have your names?"

"I am Francis Bonnefoy," He pointed to Antonio as the man pulled up another document and began writing, "This is Antonio Carriedo, and he is Ludwig Beilschmidt. I believe that Feliciano's brother, Lovino, is with him?"

"I believe so, yes. Okay," The man called over to a nurse, "Tamika, could you show these three to room eighteen-A? They're here to visit Mr. Vargas."

"Of course. Follow me, please." The brunette woman led the trio through a pair of swinging doors, and down a hallway, and to a door. "You have fifteen minutes, he needs to rest. His brother will be leaving, too."

"_Merci becoupé, Madame._" Francis nodded to the woman and opened the door for his friends.

The room was white, with some blue accents on the walls. On the right wall, the head of the bed rested. On it was Feliciano, with Lovino in a chair nearby. His hand was on Feliciano's shoulder. Near his bed were a couple of bulky machines, with wires trailing under the white covers of it. One made a beeping noise, another whirred and hummed. They were all seemingly attached to Feliciano in some way, which made Ludwig sick.

"Hi, guys." Lovino whispered to them without taking his eyes off his brother. "He's sleeping."

"We see that." Antonio sighed as he and Ludwig entered the room.

Francis closed the door. "What's the report?"

"Nothing new."

Ludwig pulled up a chair and sat next to Lovino, "So, when did you talk to him? You said th-"

"What do you care? This is _your_ fault." He began to raise his voice, yet keep a whisper. "You caused all this."

Ludwig stood up, knocking over the chair he was sitting in. "It was Natalia!"

Francis pushed Ludwig down by his shoulder, "Quiet, you idiot! Do you want them kicking us out?"

"Hey, I think you woke him up." Antonio was now standing at the foot of Feliciano's bed, who was stirring a bit.

"Hnng… Mmm…" His eyes opened, and he jumped back. "What? Who the hell are you?" The beeping on the machine quickened slightly.

"Feliciano, I'm your brother, Lovino. This is Ant-" He was cut off when Feliciano's arm snapped up to point at Ludwig.

"O- Otto?"

"Yes, but that's just my middle name. I'm your friend, Ludwig. Ludwig Otto Beilschmidt."

"Otto, you're back. I thought you left me for good." He pulled Ludwig to him for an embrace. "I- It's been years."

Ludwig glanced over at Lovino, who made a gesture with his hands and put on a queer expression. He figured that it meant to just go with it, for Feliciano's sake.

"Too many years." Ludwig wrapped his arms around his friend, finally, and held tight, "I've missed you."

Feliciano's eyes began to tear up, and buried his face into Ludwig's chest, "I've missed you, too."

Ludwig held him closer, letting him spill his emotions. For a few minutes, the room was silent other than Feliciano's occasional muffled sniffling.

_Why is he calling you that?_ Lovino mouthed to him, shrugging his shoulders high.

_I don't know. I don't go by Otto. I never have, not that I can remember._

_ Well, you must have, or he had a friend that looked exactly like you who was named Otto; I think the first one is a lot more likely._

"Otto, remember how I promised that if we ever saw each other again, I'd bake you lots of sweets?" Feliciano lifted his head to look Ludwig in the eyes, and discontinued his sobbing.

"Ja, of course I do. How could I forget?"

"Well, I did. I forgot, and I'm really sorry. Can you forgive me?"

"Of course."

Tamika poked her head in the door, "Lovino, may I speak with you? It seems that your brother has a problem with his medicine. Are you close with him?"

"Not as close as they are." He pointed to Ludwig and Feliciano. "They're always together."

"Oh, well then. May I speak with you, mister Beilschmidt?"

"Yes, just hang on." Ludwig looked at Feliciano, and said, "I'll be back in a moment, okay? You just stay here."

"Do you promise to come back this time?"

"Yes," And he left the room, to find the nurse standing outside of the door. "You needed to see me?"

"Yes sir. We were going through Feliciano's medical history, and we found a few prescription drugs. It says that they're for anti-anxiety purposes. They haven't been refilled for about a year, when they were supposed to have their usage continued with multiple refills. Also, when we took a blood test," She flipped a few pages on the clipboard she was holding, "We found that his blood-alcohol content was a bit high. Does he drink often?"

Ludwig's heart dropped in his chest. _This_ was his reason for drinking. "I've asked him. He says that he doesn't have a problem."

"Alcoholics usually are unaware that they have a problem. I suggest that when he gets out of here, you bring him to Alcoholics Anonymous, and talk to his physician about his medicine, okay? Can you do that for me?"

"Yes, I can." This was a lie. He wasn't sure if he could ever do this to his friend, especially not Feliciano.

"Thank you. Also, what happened in there? I mean, I don't want to be nosy, but I guess it's my job."

"Ahh, um, he woke up, and we talked a bit. He was glad to see me but didn't know why." More lies. He didn't want to get kicked out for upsetting him.

"Oh. Thank you for that, I just wanted to make sure that nothing went wrong. You two seem very close, by the way."

"Thanks, we are."

"You can go back in; you have a few minutes left, if you want."

Ludwig was already entering, "Okay."

Inside, Feliciano was staring contently at the wall. Even as Ludwig came towards him, he stayed still. Antonio, Lovino and Francis were all looking around awkwardly, not knowing what to say.

Lovino saw Ludwig. "Oh good, you're back. He's not answering us, and has been staring at the wall the entire time you were gone."

"I think we should go," Ludwig mentioned. "I have things to do."

"And it's more important than visiting my brother?"

"It's _about_ your brother."

"I'm not his brother." Feliciano's attention snapped from the wall to Ludwig. "I've never seen him before in my life."

Lovino gasped. "I- Oh my god." He put a hand over his mouth. "He can't… I'm…" A tear trailed down his cheek, down and over his hand.

"Let's go." Antonio grabbed Lovino by his hand and stood him up, then put his arm over his shoulder pacifyingly. Francis joined them, and looked expectantly at Ludwig.

"I'll be out in a minute, I need to talk with him," He added, "Alone."

Francis gave an understanding nod and left with the other two. Antonio began speaking very quietly with Lovino, trying to calm him down.

"Feliciano?" He didn't answer. "Feliciano, hey." Maybe he forgot his own name, too. "Hey, you."

Feliciano turned back to him. "Otto! You actually came back!" He grappled his friend into his arms again, "I thought that you wouldn't. I know you promised, but… You did last time, too. I made you a cupcake;" He let go of Ludwig and reached over to a small table next to his bed; Ludwig just noticed it. On it was a piece of paper and a small pencil with a cupcake eraser top. Feliciano took the eraser off and gave it to him. "I know it's not much, but I said I'd make lots of sweets. There's your first."

"Thank you, Feli."

"Who?"

"You, silly." Ludwig tucked the eraser into his pocket and hugged Feliciano. "I need to go now, but I will come back for you."

"What? Don't leave again!"

"I need to, I'll be back tomorrow."

"Please, don't go. I can't lose you again. I don't know if I can take it."

"You won't." After placing his hand on Feliciano's head and his lips on his cheek for a second, he left.


	3. Tell me a story (1)

In the waiting room, Francis and Antonio sat by each other.

"Where's Lovino?" Ludwig asked.

"He's in the bathroom. Poor guy, couldn't stop crying. He went in there to wash his face with some cool water. He's been in there a while, though, I should probably go get him." Antonio looked over at the door to the men's bathroom.

"I can get him." Ludwig began to saunter over to it, and opened the door to find Lovino staring into the mirror, hands on either side of the sink. "Are you okay?"

"Yah, I'm fine, it's just… He doesn't remember me. I know that he's got amnesia and all, but... wow. I just… It just startled me." He turned to face Ludwig. "I'm sorry. Let's go."

"It's okay. I understand." He led him out the door and to the others. "Let's roll."

The four friends packed into Francis's car. Ludwig sat in the passenger seat next to him, as Lovino couldn't drive in this state and Antonio had to comfort him. They sat in the back.

"I just cannot believe," Lovino began, not for the first time.

"It's not you, you had nothing to do with it. It was Natalia's fault." Antonio cooed to the Italian.

"It was him!" His hand shot up to point to Ludwig, rather startled.

"I didn't do anything!" He shouted back.

"Calm down, both of you." Antonio looked Lovino in the eyes, "Tell me, what exactly did he do in direct relation to the situation?"

"I- I don't know," He wiped his eyes with his sleeve, "I just… I don't know. Nothing, I guess."

"There you go." Since when was Antonio so caring?

Minutes passed in silence before Ludwig decided to reveal the gift.

"Hey, he gave me something." He pulled out the eraser, showing it to the pair in the back seat.

"Why?" Lovino snatched it away and inspected it.

"He said that this was my first of many promised sweets."

"What's with that, anyways? Him calling you by your middle name and making up stories." Francis said without averting his eyes from the road.

"Like I told Lovino, I don't know. I don't even know where to begin looking for an answer."

"Maybe Roderich would know something?"

"Why the hell would Roderich know anything?"

"He used to take care of Feliciano and Lovino when child services took them away from their grandfather."

"What? Why?"

"He was extremely alcoholic, a gambler, and lost a lot of money to poker. He couldn't take care of them any longer, not that he really was in the first place. A very nice man, don't get me wrong, but he just wasn't the sharpest knife in the drawer. Roderich was kind of a family friend, and though not the closest, he was the only one qualified to foster children. Everyone else was just like their grandfather."

"Francis, how the hell do you know so much about my family?" Lovino spoke up.

He shrugged, "I pick up info here and there. Your brother used to talk a lot."

"What do you mean 'used to?' He still does, and he still will! And stop talking shit about my grandfather, he was a good man!" He sat back, crossed his arms, and let out a huff. Seems he was feeling better. "Whatever. I guess we should go and talk with Roderich though; I haven't seen him in a while."

"Okay." Francis pulled into an unfamiliar driveway to turn the car around, and drove the other way. After about five minutes of driving, he pulled into another driveway. This one was more recognizable. It was Roderich's house. Beautiful piano music was coming from inside.

Ludwig knocked on the door, "Roderich, are you home? Hello?"

The music stopped, and moments later the door opened to reveal a well-dressed man. "Hello?" He moved a strand of brown hair from behind his glasses as he scanned the small crowd of people that was waiting at his door. "Oh. What do you want?"

"We need to talk with you."

"About what?"

"Um," Ludwig actually wasn't sure what he wanted to know. "Various things."

Roderich sighed, "Come in," he gestured behind him, "Leave your shoes here, you may sit wherever."

In truth, there wasn't really anywhere to sit. The first room was huge but nearly empty, besides a grand piano and its matching chair.

"Not here, the other room." Roderich said. At the end of the huge piano room was another set of doors. Past them was an average living room with tiled floors and white walls. It was elegant, but not as the first room was. It was as though the empty room was added on, which it probably was. Plenty of sitting spots lined the walls.

The only odd thing about the room was that a man in pink pajamas sat in the loveseat, drinking a cup of tea. He put his hand up to move the blonde hair fell near his eyes when he noticed everyone entering the room.

He jumped up at their sight, "AH! Roderich! You could have told me you were having company!"

"I didn't know that they were, myself. And I always tell you to get dressed, you knew something like this was bound to happen eventually, Basch."

"Is everything all right in there?" A long-haired girl in a dress entered the room, a rag and bottle of cleaning spray in hand. "I heard Basch scream."

"It's nothing, Elizabeta. Roderich just has some unexpected guests and I'm wearing this." Basch gestured to his outfit.

"What's wrong with wearing those?" A small child who looked identical to Basch entered the room. The only difference between the two was that her eyes were a bit bigger and she had a ribbon in her hair.

"Nothing, Lili. You just… It's not good to wear pajamas when you have company. You need to look nice."

"Okay brother. Should I go change?"

"Mmm… Sure. I should, too." The siblings left the room, leaving Roderich and Elizabeta behind with Ludwig and the rest. Francis, Antonio and Lovino all sat on a couch, while Ludwig sat in a reclining chair. Elizabeta continued her cleaning in the living room to stay with the group, and Roderich sat alone in the loveseat.

"So, you wanted to talk with me. What's this about? Does this have anything to do with Feliciano falling off the roof?"

"Yah," Elizabeta cut in, "Is he okay?"

"No actually, well, kind of…" Lovino's words stumbled, "See, he's okay besides the fact that he can't remember a goddamned thing." Antonio squeezed his hand to ensure that he didn't break into another crying fit again, which he didn't.

Moments passed in a shocked silence.

"_Ja,_ he's in the ICU at the moment, but I think they'll be moving him to the regular rooms soon."

"Okay, is that all you came to tell me? You could have just called."

"No, actually, what I came to ask you was, did he have a friend named Otto as a child?" Basch and Lili entered the room as Ludwig spoke, now in day cloths. Basch sat next to Roderich and Lili sat on her brother's lap.

Roderich's eyes darkened, but he nodded. "Why do you want to know?"

Ludwig proceeded to explain everything that happened in the hospital, from the hugging to the nurse's diagnosis, even to Lovino's outbursts. The only thing he left out was the cupcake eraser and the sweets. Something inside him said not to share that, not to mention it.

By the end of the story, Roderich's face was flushed of color. He looked from Ludwig to Francis and back again.

"Could… Could I speak with Ludwig alone, please? If everyone would just go into the kitchen; that would be nice."

"How about you go discuss it over Mozart, instead?" Basch gestured to the large room with his hand, "I'm not standing in a cramped little kitchen with people I barely even know."

"It's not that small!"

"Even the mice are smart enough to make their homes where the music plays over the place too small to hold even them, and it's the freaking kitchen."

"There are mice running around my piano?" Roderich had a terrified expression on his face.

"Why don't you go find out? I'll stay here; make our other guests some tea." Basch stood Lili up and followed after, "Who wants tea?"

Antonio and Lovino both said 'I do,' at the same time, but Francis stayed quiet. He was preoccupied in a one-way stare down with Roderich. As Ludwig was led into the other room, he could feel his friend's glare burn into the back of his skull. What had gotten into him?


	4. Tell me a story (2)

Roderich closed the door behind him. "Go ahead, sit on the piano seat. I'll be there in a moment."

Ludwig did as he was told. Roderich stood at the door for a moment, just staring off into the molding. He then walked to Ludwig and sat with him.

"So, you wanted to talk with me?"

"Ludwig, how much of your childhood do you remember?" What an odd question to begin a conversation with.

"Not much," Now that he though about it, he didn't remember anything. "Nothing."

Roderich sighed. "That's what I thought."

"What do you mean? So what, a lot of people can't remember their childhoods."

"Yes, but most people can remember something, at least."

"What about you? What did you do as a child?"

"Well," He seemed very much taken aback by the question. "I guess, to say something, I used to love to hike. At least, when I lived in the Austrian mountains. We moved here when I was seven, and I guess… Well, I remember something, at least. You don't."

"Hold on…" Ludwig strained to remember something, anything. His face twisted in concentration, but nothing came to him. "Ah. I can't-"

"Stop, you'll hurt yourself. I didn't expect you to be able to, anyways."

"Why can't I?"

"You never noticed?"

"I never thought about it. I never needed to."

"You never needed to tell a story, from when you were little?"

"Nope."

"Wow." Roderich leaned back onto the piano, hitting many keys with his back, making both him and Ludwig jump. "Yah, crap." He turned and closed the cover over the keys, and leaned back again. Ludwig braced himself for a similar combination of notes to play, but it didn't. The disharmonic sound stayed in the room, reverberating off of the walls and through their ears.

"So," After the sound nearly vanished, Roderich turned to Ludwig. "Do you want me to tell you what happened in the most pleasing way I can, or do you want me to give it to you straight?"

"Huh?" Ludwig thought about it. Whatever he was going to say, it couldn't be good. Though, why sugar coat it? The same was going to come out of it. "I guess you should just tell it how it is."

"Okay." Roderich leaned forward, resting his forehead on his hand. Curled in on himself, he looked so tired, so distressed. "When you were little- Er, when Feliciano was little… You…" He couldn't speak. "I… I'm sorry. My mouth is dry. Do you want some tea? I need some tea."

"I guess I'll take some tea, thank you." Immediately after he said them, Ludwig regretted his words. Him having tea would mean Roderich would be gone longer than he needed to be. Right now, being alone was the last thing he wanted.

Roderich stood up. "Okay. I'll be back."

"Actually, could I just have some water?" That would spare a bit of time.

"Sure." He tried to walk out of the room with his usual confidence, but he stumbled over his own shaking legs.

As soon as he left the room, Ludwig turned around to face the piano and lifted the lid. He'd never even touched a piano, at least, not that he could remember. Selecting a random key, he played it and a very even sounding note come out. Pressing the black key next to it, then the white one after, he slowly worked his way up the scale until he reached the final note at the right end of the piano. He then turned his hand and worked backwards, down the scale, a bit quicker this time.

"Hey, I got your drink." Roderich nudged the door open with his hip and closed it behind him in the same manner. "Were you playing my piano?"

"Hmm? Uh, yes. Sorry."

"It's fine." He sat down with his friend and passed the drink. Ludwig noticed that he got water for himself, too, instead of tea. "Anyways, about you…" He took a sip of it. "And Feliciano… Well, when you two were little…" He took another. "Okay, I have no good way to put this."

"Lay it on me, I can take it."

"Oh, but can you?"

Ludwig ignored the warning tone in his voice. "Yes."

"Okay, if you're sure." Taking another sip, he said: "When you were little, you and Feliciano were good friends, and you lived nearby. He actually seemed to love you. Anyways, you always like the name Otto a lot better than Ludwig, and went by that, never bothering to tell him that Otto wasn't even your real name. I mean, first name. Ahh…" Roderich brought a palm to his forehead and grimaced, "I'm sorry…"

"It's okay. Slow down, take a break." Ludwig needed a rest himself, though as he sat and though about what he was told, more questions arrived:

_How could I forget Feliciano?_

_ He loved me?_

_ Why didn't I tell him my first name?_

_ Have I ever mentioned my middle name to him?_

_ Who else-_

His thoughts were interrupted when Roderich spoke again, after taking a drink. "As I said, you never mentioned your first name. But anyways, you two got along really well. One day, you went into town after playing with Feliciano for a bit. I didn't ask you why, though you were only ten, because you did this a lot. Probably just to get flour or something. But when night fell, Feliciano got worried. I told him you probably just went home. I thought you did, but I was also just trying…" He trailed off, and stared off into the nothingness, then to his glass. He took sip, lowered the glass for a moment, and then went for another. When he saw that his glass was empty, he stood up to go refill it.

Ludwig realized that he hadn't even touched his water. "You want mine?"

"N… Thanks." He took the cup and drank from it, sitting back down. "As I said, I thought you just went home, but I was worried, too. I was trying to reassure myself as well as Feliciano. You never left before saying goodbye. Ever. I just assumed you forgot for once."

"That night, when you didn't come back, we were really worried. But, we just continued out normal routine, assuming you were doing something that wasn't any of our business. Family matters, maybe. But no, when we switched on the news..." He cringed, as though the oncoming words physically hit him, and he was obviously struggling to hold back tears. Ludwig felt oddly calm, as though the story he was hearing was about a completely different person, a stranger to him.

"When we switched on the news that night, there was a man talking about finding the body of a small, blonde boy about the age of ten in the river. It was assumed that you drowned while bathing, because you didn't have cloths on, they were found upriver. They didn't have anything to identify you by, but we knew you immediately by your picture. Feliciano couldn't breath, he was crying so hard, and though I tried to stay calm, I knew that that was impossible. Elizabeta was there at the time, but she was so confused because she hardly knew you. She knew that you came over sometimes, but she couldn't put two and two together, and- and-" Roderich hunched over, holding his head in his hands. He looked as though he was about to vomit and his breathing was unreasonably quick.

"Whoa, calm down. Take a drink of water, breath." Ludwig put a hand on his friends' back, not knowing what else to do. Another moment to think, another flood of questions. He didn't bother to acknowledge them.

He sat back up, finishing his drink. "The doctors were able to revive you. With the lack of oxygen to your brain though, you forgot everything. To get away from everything, your family moved back to Germany. They didn't want to deal with memories of you dying. Your parents and I kept in touch, being good friends. Apparently, you had to re-learn everything. From speech, to family bonds, to your own personality, you forgot it all. I was so surprised that they didn't hate me, being the last one to see you alive and all. I'm also surprised to see that you came to be as intelligent as you are." Roderich gave a sideways glance at Ludwig, the corners of his mouth twitching upward into a slight smile. "I guess I could say that I'm proud." He stood up, "Well, I guess that's all I can tell you. That's all I know, anyways."

"Thanks." Ludwig stood up, too, and picked up the glass that Roderich had left on the floor as the other scurried out of the room.

_To be continued..._


End file.
